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IRAN: Sentence against prominent human rights lawyer, journalist and writer reduced
PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) | 21 October 2011 RAN 54/10
The sentence againstprominent writer, journalist and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been reduced to six years on appeal.PEN International protests her continued detention solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory, and calls for her immediate and unconditional release.
According to PEN’s information, Nasrin Soutadeh was originally sentenced to eleven years in prisonby Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court on 9 January 2010 for "propaganda against the regime", "acting against national security" and "violating the Islamic dress code (Hijab) in a filmed speech". The sentence was reduced to six years on appeal in mid-September 2011. The twenty-year ban on Soutadeh practising law was also reduced to ten years.
Soutadeh is charged for critical interviews she gave to overseas media following the disputed June 2009 presidential election, and for her membership of the Association of Human Rights Defenders (see previous alert for more details).
Nasrin Sotoudeh, aged 45 and a mother of two young children aged 3 and 11, was arrested on 4 September 2010 when shewas summoned to the special court in Evin prison http://www.iranianfeministschool.info/english/spip.php?article387 on charges of "propaganda against the state", “cooperating with the Association of Human Rights Defenders” and "conspiracy to disturb order". The arrest followed a raid on her home and office by security officers on 29 August 2010, who confiscated her files and documents. Her lawyer was not allowed to represent her in court or accompany her client during questioning. She is held in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she has been on hunger strike for much of the time since her arrest. Since her arrest Nasrin Soutadeh has been allowed very limited access to her family, in violation of the Iranian Penal Code which guarantees the right to weekly visits and to receive phone calls from relatives. She is recently said to have been denied family visits for three weeks after protesting conditions of detention in Evin prison.
Nasrin Sotoudeh is best known as a human rights lawyer and activist, but hasalso worked as a journalist for several reformist newspapers including Jame'e. Since qualifying as a lawyer in 2003, she has specialised in women’s and children's rights, and has continued to write articles on these issues. Many of her articles have been rejected for publication, including a report written for a special issue of Daricheh on women’s rights for the occasion of 8 March (Women’s Day) earlier this year. Following the launch of the One Million Signatures Campaign for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws in August 2006 by several leading Iranian women activists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Iran (http://www.iranianfeministschool.org/english/spip.php?rubrique3), and the widespread growth of the women's rights movement in Iran, she has represented many women's rights activists including Parvin Ardalan, a well-known PEN case (see previous alerts).She is a close associate of exiled lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and has represented many imprisoned Iranian opposition activists arrested in the unprecedented crackdown on dissent following the disputed presidential elections of 12 June 2009. Arrests are continuing, and many have been handed down lengthy sentences.
Please send appeals:
§ Protesting the detention of writer, journalist and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to free expression;
§ Calling for her immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a signatory;
§ Seeking assurances of her well-being in detention.
Appeals to:
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street,
Qom,
Islamic Republic of Iran.
Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737
Islamic Republic of Iran.
Copies to:
President:
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue,
Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax:Via Foreign Ministry: +98 21 6 674 790
(mark: "Please forward to H.E. President Ahmadinejad")
If possible please send a copy of your appeal to the diplomatic representative for Iran in your country.
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk
Cathy McCann
Researcher, Asia/Middle East
PEN International Writers in Prison Committee
Brownlow House
50-51 High Holborn
London WC1V 6ER.
Tel.+44 (0)20 7405 0338
Fax: +44 (0)20 7405 0339
http://www.pen-international.org
International PEN is trading as PEN International. International PEN is a company registered in England and Wales with registration number 05683997. International PEN is a registered charity in England and Wales with registration number 1117088. International PEN’s registered office is Brownlow House, 50-51 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6ER, UK.
